hesitation allowed the British to consolidated their positions on the left bank of the Struma around the village of Karacaköy on 30 September. On 3 October the 10th (Irish) Division attacked the Bulgarian positions in the village of Yenikoy that were defended by the 13th Rila Regiment of the 7th Division. The battle lasted for the entire day and the Bulgarians reinforced by the 14th Macedonian Regiment and 17th Artillery Regiment twice retook the village after a fierce bayonet struggle. During the night, after a third and last attack, the village was occupied by the Irish division. Casualties on both sides were heavy due to the accurate artillery and machine gun fire. After the battle the Bulgarian 13th Regiment was reorganized to a three battalion strength instead of the usual four battalions. After 4 October the Bulgarians set up positions on the nearby heights to the east while the right flank of the 7th Rila division remained in the valley to protect the Rupel Pass. In the middle of October and the beginning of November, the Bulgarians were reinforced by two Ottoman divisions which freed some troops that could now be sent to assist in the fighting against the Allies west of the Vardar. From this point onwards no large operations were conducted on the Struma front until the end of the offensive. For much of 1917 the Struma front was passive as the main Entente efforts were directed against the Eleventh and First armies. In addition, any operations were hampered by the often too cold or too hot weather and the spread of malaria. The only more significant change was that the commander of the Second Army, general Georgi Todorov, was replaced by general Ivan Lukov in February 1917. By 1918 the Bulgarian Army was suffering from chronic shortages of food, ammunition and low morale. Desertion, including in the Second army, became more frequent. The Entente was well aware of the crisis in the Bulgarian Army and planned to break the Macedonian front with a large offensive again directed against the Eleventh and First armies. On 14 September the Serbians and French attacked at Dobro Pole and achieved a breakthrough. Two days latter the British and Gree attacked the Bulgarian First Army at Doiran but suffered a heavy defeat. The commander of the First Army general Stefan Nerezov proposed a counterattack with his forces and the Second Bulgarian Army